HOUSE MEMORIAL 92

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2014

INTRODUCED BY

Georgene Louis

A MEMORIAL

SUPPORTING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS' ABILITY TO USE THEIR POLICE POWER AND TO REGULATE LAND USE WITHIN THEIR JURISDICTIONS TO MITIGATE THE HARMFUL IMPACTS OF INAPPROPRIATE OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION ON WATER AND AIR QUALITY AND OTHER ASPECTS OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF THEIR RESIDENTS.

     WHEREAS, water is the most valuable resource in New Mexico, necessary to sustain life, enhance the environment and allow for economic development; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico enjoys excellent air quality, which, like water, is a valuable resource, necessary to a healthy quality of life for New Mexico residents and an important attribute to attracting clean industry as part of the state's economic development efforts; and

     WHEREAS, an important aspect of living in New Mexico is the enjoyment of a beautiful environment, grand vistas, starry nights and places of solitude; and

     WHEREAS, oil and gas development and production are critical to New Mexico, accounting for a significant portion of the state's finances and economic well-being; and

     WHEREAS, if properly regulated, the potential but undisputed negative impacts associated with natural gas and oil exploration, extraction, treatment, storage and transportation, such as concentrated and extra-heavy truck traffic on local roads and highways not designed for that traffic; disturbance of land for clearing, grading, surface preparation and well pads; erosion and sediment deposition in local waterways; noise; dust; spillage of flowback water from drilling processes; construction of new compressor stations; fragmentation of agricultural lands and forests; toxic air emissions; pollution of local surface waters and aquifers; and degradation of aesthetic values, can be eliminated or minimized; and

     WHEREAS, the technical, legal and resource conservation aspects of oil and gas development and production within the state are regulated pursuant to the Oil and Gas Act and the Surface Owners Protection Act; and

     WHEREAS, the regulation provided in those acts does not conflict with local governments' authority to promote the health and well-being of their residents nor local governments' obligation to promote the interests of the public over private interests in accord with state-granted police powers and to regulate land use in the public interest pursuant to their zoning authority; and

     WHEREAS, local governments, in exercising their police power and zoning authority, are able to take into consideration the specific concerns of their communities regarding traffic congestion, noise, dangers to their residents' health, safety and welfare, and threats to the cultural, historical, architectural, archaeological and ecological uniqueness of their communities when regulating the occurrence of the development and production of oil and gas within their jurisdictions that are not in the purview of state-level regulators; and

     WHEREAS, the supreme courts of Colorado and Pennsylvania have specifically upheld the authority of local governments to use their zoning and land-use laws to regulate those aspects of oil and gas development and production that can have a deleterious effect on the public health, safety and welfare, including the right to choose the locations where oil and gas drilling is or is not appropriate; and

     WHEREAS, Mora and Santa Fe counties in New Mexico have exercised their recognized authority to enact laws to protect their water and air quality, cultural properties and quality of life from degradation that they determined could result from oil and gas development that is not otherwise regulated to protect those values;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it will work to maintain the ability of local governments to exercise their police power and land-use regulatory authority to protect their water and air quality, cultural properties, quality of life and other aspects of the public health, safety and welfare from the potential negative impacts of oil and gas development and production, whether or not that exercise results in ordinances or resolutions that are more protective than general state laws and regulations that protect the public health, safety and welfare; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be sent to the executive director of the New Mexico municipal league, the executive director of the New Mexico association of counties, the director of the oil conservation division of the energy, minerals and natural resources department and the governor.

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